IV 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. RES. 477 

Recommending the designation of a Presidential Special Envoy to the Balkans 

to evaluate the successes and shortcomings of the implementation of 

the Dayton Peace Accords in Bosnia and Herzegovina, to provide policy 

recommendations, and to report back to Congress within one year. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 9, 2015 

Ms. HAHN submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 

Committee on Foreign Affairs 

RESOLUTION 

Recommending the designation of a Presidential Special 

Envoy to the Balkans to evaluate the successes and 

shortcomings of the implementation of the Dayton Peace 

Accords in Bosnia and Herzegovina, to provide policy 

recommendations, and to report back to Congress within 

one year. 

Whereas, on December 14, 1995, the General Framework 

Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina (referred to in this resolution as ‘‘BiH’’), known as the Dayton Peace Accords, brought an end to the brutal conflict 

in that country that was marked by aggression and ethnic cleansing, including the commission of war crimes, 

crimes against humanity, and genocide; 


SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
2 

•HRES 477 IH 

Whereas the Dayton Peace Accords define BiH as a country 

with three constituent peoples—Bosniaks, Croats, and 

Serbs—to be comprised of two internal entities known as 

the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH) and 

Republika Srpska (RS), from which an extremely complex, fundamentally flawed system of governance and administration has been derived; 

Whereas the Dayton Peace Accords included many compromises imposed by the need for quick action to preserve human life and bring an end to the conflict in BiH, 

and as a result may have hindered efforts to develop efficient and effective political institutions capable of overcoming the challenges required to become an integral 

member of the Euro-Atlantic community of nation-states; 

Whereas, since the signing of the Dayton Peace Accords, the 

Government and people of BiH have been working in 

partnership with the international community to achieve 

progress in building a peaceful and democratic society 

based on the rule of law, respect for human rights, and 

a free market economy; 

Whereas BiH demonstrated its commitment to the shared 

values of democracy, security, and stability by joining the 

Partnership for Peace program of the North Atlantic 

Treaty Organization (NATO) in December 2006; 

Whereas BiH received a conditional Membership Action Plan 

status in NATO in April 2010 pending completion of specific military and political reforms; 

Whereas the Government of BiH took the first important 

step on the road toward European Union (EU) membership by signing a Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA) with the EU in June 2008; 


SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
3 

•HRES 477 IH 

Whereas, despite these notable achievements, the Government 

and people of BiH continue to face significant challenges 

in their efforts at integrating into Euro-Atlantic institutions and the country’s economy continues to decline; 

Whereas the Council of Europe’s Venice Commission concluded that the current constitutional arrangements in 

BiH are not conducive to the efficient or rational functioning of state institutions, hindering the pace of the 

country’s accession to NATO and the EU; 

Whereas the Government of BiH has the obligation to implement the ruling of the Grand Chamber of the European 

Court of Human Rights in the case of Sejdic ́-Finci from 

2009 with regard to the election to the Presidency and 

House of Peoples of BiH of Others, who are defined as 

those Bosnian citizens who are not primarily a member 

of the Dayton Accords’ stipulated three constitutive peoples—the Serb Bosnians, the Croat Bosnians, and the 

Muslim Bosnians or Bosniaks; 

Whereas reform at any level, including that originating from 

the implementation of the European Court of Human 

Rights ruling on the Sejdic ́-Finci Case, should take into 

account the protection of equal constitutional rights of 

all; 

Whereas the elections in BiH should reflect the right of the 

constituent peoples and others to choose their legal representatives, who would therefore represent those people 

consistent with the founding provisions of the Dayton 

Peace Accords, as opposed to the existing practice, which 

allows for the representatives of one people to be elected 

by the members of other constituent peoples, hindering 

the political stability of BiH; 


SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
4 

•HRES 477 IH 

Whereas only the full protection of equal political, economic, 

legal, and religious rights of all the constituent peoples 

and others throughout the territory of BiH, including the 

inalienable right to return, will guarantee the future stability, functionality, and effectiveness of the country; 

Whereas the number of Bosnian Croats has declined from 

820,000 before the war to around 460,000 remaining in 

BiH today, as reported by the Catholic Church in BiH 

which has played an important role in protecting rights 

of Catholic Bosnian Croats and reporting problems and 

cases of destruction of personal and real property of both 

the Catholic Church and Croat returnees; 

Whereas it is not acceptable that this negative demographic 

trend is reflected in the reduction of constitutional rights 

of Bosnian Croats, as that reduction directly causes political and administrative dysfunctionality of the country; 

Whereas a functional BiH as a whole is not possible without 

a fully functional FBiH, one of the two entities established by the Dayton Peace Accords, both being ethnically and administratively composite; 

Whereas it is not acceptable for the High Representative— 

or other regulatory figure established by the Dayton 

Peace Accords or any other follow-on multilateral management or advisory entity—to unilaterally impose administrative changes affecting the political and economic 

welfare of the designated constituent peoples of FBiH 

without a full and proper consultation supported by the 

mutually agreed upon representatives of both the Catholic Croat Bosnian and Bosniak Muslim communities in 

the FBiH; 


SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
5 

•HRES 477 IH 

Whereas FBiH’s protracted poor functionality only exacerbates the existing predominant separatist tendency in the 

RS, the predominantly Serb entity of BiH, thus threatening the very integrity of the country as a whole; 

Whereas continuous economic decline is a direct consequence 

of the fact that most of BiH’s gross domestic product 

(GDP) is generated from the publicly owned companies, 

which are run at the RS and FBiH entity levels by political parties with enduring ethnocentric agendas reflecting 

their particular and non-common interests, preventing 

the further creation of much needed free enterprise business development and closely integrated national internal 

markets; 

Whereas the social fabric of BiH is the single most important 

victim of the war and ensuing political conflict, and the 

need for repair, strengthening, and further development 

of civil society is fundamental to the country’s recovery 

and desired development; 

Whereas the Republic of Croatia has clearly demonstrated 

that allegiance to democracy, market economy, rule of 

law, and respect for human and citizen rights is conducive to full integration into the Euro-Atlantic community, 

and the Government of Croatia continues to play an active role in contributing to BiH’s political stability, internal integrity, and international viability; 

Whereas all the other neighbors of BiH share the ambition 

to join the European Union; and 

Whereas the future of BiH is in the European Union and 

NATO: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 


SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
6 

•HRES 477 IH 

1 (1) reiterates its support for the sovereignty, 

2 territorial integrity, and legal continuity of BiH 

3 within its internationally recognized borders, as well 

4 as the equality of its three constituent peoples and 

5 others within an integrated multiethnic country; 

6 (2) welcomes steps taken by the government of 

7 BiH towards integration into the Euro-Atlantic com8 munity and reiterates its position that this commit9 ment is in the interests of the further stabilization 

10 of the region of southeastern Europe; 

11 (3) emphasizes that it is urgent that BiH, as 

12 well as its internal political entities, all work toward 

13 the creation of an efficient and effective state able 

14 to meet its domestic and international obligations 

15 with effective and functional institutions, and that 

16 the national government of BiH—as well as the in17 stitutions of the entities—are able to instill nec18 essary reforms in order to fulfill European Union 

19 and North Atlantic Treaty Organization membership 

20 requirements; 

21 (4) reiterates its call that constitutional reform 

22 in BiH take the Dayton Peace Accords as its basis, 

23 but advance the principles of political, economic, 

24 legal, and religious equality and tolerance in order to 

25 rectify provisions that conflict with the European 


SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
7 

•HRES 477 IH 

1 Charter of Human Rights and the ruling of the Eu2 ropean Court of Human Rights, and to rectify the 

3 conditions to enable economic development and the 

4 creation of a single economic space, including 

5 through the fair and effective functioning of public 

6 companies so as to be consistent with the goal of 

7 successful EU membership; 

8 (5) stresses the importance of privatization of 

9 the publicly owned enterprises through fully trans10 parent international tenders prepared in close co11 operation with the EU and the Office of the High 

12 Representative (OHR) as a means of avoiding the 

13 misplacement of political attention and energy to14 ward running companies rather than providing effec15 tive service to the citizens of the country; 

16 (6) commends the present focus of the United 

17 States Government in support of stronger civil soci18 ety in BiH, and urges the Department of State to 

19 further increase endeavors in that regard; 

20 (7) believes that the Department of State and 

21 the President must seek to address all these matters 

22 more emphatically in a manner that provides for a 

23 just evaluation of the current grievances of the three 

24 constituent peoples and the Others in the two enti25 ties of the BiH; 


SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
8 

•HRES 477 IH 

1 (8) believes that it is of paramount importance 

2 that the United States Government work closely 

3 with the EU in conceiving and implementing an ac4 cession process specifically made for BiH, which 

5 would link in a causal and firmly conditional way the 

6 internal integration of BiH with its phased integra7 tion into the EU; 

8 (9) urges that it is substantially beneficial for 

9 the process of building up the functional capacities 

10 of BiH to the level of its full ability to enable mem11 bership in NATO and the EU, that the United 

12 States Government work closely with BiH’s neigh13 boring countries—especially those who are signato14 ries to the Dayton Peace Accords—ensuring consist15 ency along the lines of their own European ambi16 tions so that they actively contribute to BiH’s inter17 nal integration and political and administrative 

18 functionality conducive to BiH’s successful member19 ship in NATO and the EU; 

20 (10) reiterates that a fully functional Federa21 tion of BiH entity is essential for the future of BiH 

22 as a functional and stable state and therefore any 

23 envisaged reform should take into account protection 

24 of the constitutional rights of all, including Bosnian 

25 Croats—demographically smallest of the three DayVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:59 Oct 09, 2015 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR477.IH HR477

SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
9 

•HRES 477 IH 

1 ton Peace Accords recognized constituent peoples in 

2 BiH—and prevent further weakening of their posi3 tion; 

4 (11) believes that it is important that the 

5 United States Government, together with other 

6 international actors, support countries of the region 

7 in fulfilling their obligations as agreed through the 

8 launching of the Sarajevo Process in 2005, re9 affirmed in the 2011 Belgrade Declaration, as well 

10 as during the Donor Conference held in Sarajevo in 

11 April 2012, aimed at ending the protracted refugee 

12 and internal-displacement situation in the region of 

13 Southeast Europe and finding durable solutions for 

14 the refugees and internally displaced persons 

15 through the implementation of the Balkans Regional 

16 Housing Programme; 

17 (12) reiterates its call that the United States 

18 should designate a Presidential Special Envoy to the 

19 Balkans who should work in partnership with the 

20 OHR, the EU, NATO, and the political leaders in 

21 Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as with neighboring 

22 countries, to facilitate much needed reforms at all 

23 levels of government and society in BiH; and 

24 (13) urges the Presidential Special Envoy, not 

25 later than one year after the date of the adoption of 


SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
10 

•HRES 477 IH 

1 this resolution, to submit to the Committees on For2 eign Relations and Appropriations of the Senate and 

3 the Committees on Foreign Affairs and Appropria4 tions of the House of Representatives a report with 

5 targeted evaluations and discoveries, including to 

6 provide proposals on how to address any ongoing 

7 difficulties outlined above, as well as ways to over8 come any remaining political, economic, legal, or re9 ligious inequalities in BiH. 

Æ 


SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS